Earthly Delights: Corinna Chapman Mysteries, Book 1

Baking is an alchemical process for Corinna Chapman. At four am she starts work at Earthly Delights, her bakery in Calico Alley. But one morning Corinna receives a threatening note saying "The wages of sin is death" and finds a syringe in her cat's paw. A blue-faced junkie has collapsed in the dark alley and a mysterious man with beautiful eyes appears with a plan for Corinna and her bread. Then it is Goths, dead drug addicts, witchcraft, a homeless boy and a missing girl and it seems she will never get those muffins cooked in time.

Don't know why I waited so long.

I have read and listened to all the Phryne Fisher novels and just didn't think another series by the same author could be so good. WRONG. This one i..Show More »s modern, lusty, funny, and again has a heroine who asserts herself and grows. If you have an aversion to the occult or good sex then stay away. Neither overpowers the story but are interwoven well. The narrator, Ms Siversen, does a great job with all the voices too. Looking forward to listening to more.

Heavenly Pleasures: A Corinna Chapman Mystery, Book 2

Corinna Chapman likes the quiet life: good food, good company, and her daily work as a baker. She doesn't really want mystery and intrigue in her life. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't have much choice. Corinna's apartment building seems to be a magnet for mystery and mayhem and, with her new lover, Daniel, a private investigator, Corinna seems destined to be involved in solving these mysteries.

Second Outing for Corinna Chapman

Format: Audible Download/Kindle Whispersync for Voice

Heavenly Pleasures is the name of a Chocolate Shop run by a pair of sisters of Belgium ..Show More »extraction. They are located near Corinna Chapman's bakery and do very good business. Then Corinna finds out that they have been the focus of a series of unpleasant incidents involving their chocolates. Nothing dangerous, so far, so it is unlikely that they would be of interest to the police, and if the story becomes public knowledge then it might ruin their trade. They hire Corinna's partner (ex-Israeli soldier, current private eye) to try to find out who is trying to put then out of business.

This isn't the only mystery though around Insula, the Roman style building where Corinna has her bakery and apartment.

Corinna is intensely likeable with her whole-hearted enjoyment of the good things in life including bread, sex, chocolate and good company. The mystery is interesting enough; however, I really enjoy the cast of eccentrics who populate Corinna's world.

The narrator, Louise Siverson does an absolutely bang up job of reading this book. I couldn't imagine another voice as that of Corinna now.

I try not to read too many books in the same series in a row because I start to notice the authors little tics and twits. However, I got the first one (Earthly Delights) on a deal from Amazon/Audible and then had to buy the next two because I liked it so well. The following book (3rd) is Devil's Food.

All is not well for Baker Corinna Chapman despite her successful business and the acquisitions of both a promising young apprentice and a handsome, se..Show More »nsual private eye/partner.

Jason, her young apprentice, had entered into a deal to produce "famine bread" for a group of monks who had established themselves in a property in Melbourne. Given that their only complaint had been that she had made the bread taste too good, it seems they were seriously into mortifying the flesh. And speaking of mortifying-- her unwashed, unpleasant and hysterical mother shows up at the bakery to demand Corinna's help in finding Corinna's father, who had taken off on a mid-life crisis to find "young flesh". Finally, it appears that her two young shop assistants hae fallen victim to a dangerous diet aid.

There's other mysteries that Corinna must solve which introduces the reader to some other venues (including one that is distinctly sad), as she searches for her father.

This one is also narrated by the inestimable Louise Siverson in her warm, kind tones.

I'm going to take a break in the series here, but I'm sure I will be back to finish the rest. The second book in the series was Heavenly Pleasures: A Corinna Chapman Mystery. The next is Trick or Treat: A Corinna Chapman Mystery.

Trick or Treat

Amateur sleuth and baker extraordinaire Corinna Chapman is upstaged when the hot new bread chain, Best Fresh Bread, opens just down the street from her own bakery, Earthly Delights. Meanwhile Daniel's tall, blonde and gorgeous old friend is staying with him while she establishes a base and a business in Melbourne.

Witches and Covens and Curses, oh my!

I can't seem to get enough of Kerry Greenwood. In the fourth Corinna Chapman book Halloween is in the air and the witches are gathering. Meroe is as..Show More » nervous as a very cool cat in a room full of rocking chairs. She is a solitary Wicca by preference (and because she doesn't really like other witches). Now there are hundreds of witches flooding into Melbourne for the Samhaine rites. And one of the more eclectic covens is on a purely material treasure hunt that threatens the sanctity of the rites. In the spirit of the season there is also a sudden increase in the number of people going mad in town. Corinna encounters one well dressed man in her alley who thinks that his hands have fallen off. Much as she is shaken by this it is nothing to how she feels when a man jumps to his death from the building next door thinking he can fly. Corinna has other causes for anxiety as Daniel has a friend named George staying with him. He may have forgotten to mention that George is tall, blonde, long legged, and imminently female. And George really doesn’t like Corinna. There is also a new franchise bread shop right down the street from Earthly Delights with unbeatable prices, but no taste (on more levels than one). It’s going to be a difficult spring for or intrepid heroine, but there is bread to bake so Corinna can’t just lie abed and worry.

Forbidden Fruit: Corinna Chapman Mysteries, Book 5

Corinna Chapman, owner of Earthly Delights, detests Christmas. The shoppers are frantic and the heat oppressive. Neither of which, this perfect size 20 with a genius for baking breads finds congenial. She's dreaming of quiet, air-conditioned comfort but instead finds herself dealing with a rose-loving donkey named Serena, a maniacal mother with staring eyes, a distracted assistant searching for the perfect muffin recipe, her friend the fearless witch Meroe, and the luscious Daniel with whom she'd like to spend a lot more time.

Hmmmmmm

Whoever it was that said there are only four basic plots for novels -- or seven, I've seen both -- obviously never read this book. In terms of way-ou..Show More »t plotting, it doesn't get any more unique than this.

And a seriously grisly tale it is, too. Don't listen to parts of this one while eating dinner.

No overt spoiler here, but fans of Jonathan Swift won't be disappointed -- or much puzzled, either -- by some plot elements. Swift did it better, but then he wasn't writing a novel.

One further warning: Quite some time ago, I'd read -- as in an actual paper book -- one of Kerry Greenwood's novels, and eventually I remembered that I'd had the same sort of trouble getting into that book as I did with this one. Apparently these are almost "cult" books, with some of their own special language and "things" and/or characters who reappear time after time.

But I'd forgotten that, so with this one, when I found myself profoundly confused about who -- or what -- "The Goddess" was, or what sort of being "Hector" might be, I had to backtrack, and listen again. She doesn't explain in each book who -- or what -- some of these characters are. But fear not -- it really doesn't matter. I wouldn't have needed to backtrack -- it became as clear as it needed to be, eventually.

It's not all bad -- the book has its charms. I loved "Serena" -- no spoiler to tell you she's an adorable donkey. Any scene in which Serena appeared was pure delight. I also got a kick out of her "mouse police" squad, which are feral cats she keeps to keep her bakery basement mouse free -- the antics of the mouse police are a nice, funny, touch.

So, okay. A fairly good book. I'm sure this series has its passionate fans. I'm not quite there, but... it was reasonably entertaining, and what more can you ask?

Cooking the Books: A Corinna Chapman Mystery, Book 6

Corinna Chapman, talented baker and reluctant investigator, is trying very hard to do nothing at all on her holidays. Her gorgeous Daniel is only intermittently at her side (he's roaming the streets tracking down a multi-thousand-dollar corporate theft). Jason, her baking offsider, has gone off to learn how to surf. And Kylie and Goss are fulfilling their lives' ambition auditioning for a soapie. It should be a time of quiet reflection for Corinna, but quiet reflection doesn't seem to suit her - she's bored.

Cooking the books

I thoroughly Enjoyed this book. It is part of a series about a young woman baker, and all her various friends old and new,. Shr has many and various ..Show More »mysteries to solve in each book , Most entertaining are the many senarios she encounters while going about her daily tasks.The reader keeps the story moving along at a nice pace.I have read many of this authors books , I am never disappointed in anything I have read so far. I loved her Phryne Fisher books, don't miss any of those.